Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan: A Tiger in the Kitchen

The Brown Bookstore and the Year of China presented a reading by author Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan who discussed her memoir "A Tiger in the Kitchen."

Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan is a New York-based writer who has written a memoir about discovering her Singaporean family by learning to cook with them. A Tiger In The Kitchen will be published by Hyperion February 8, 2011.

She was a staff writer at the Wall Street Journal, In Style magazine and the Baltimore Sun. Her stories have also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Marie Claire, Every Day With Rachael Ray, Family Circle, Bloomberg Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, The (Portland) Oregonian, The (Topeka) Capital-Journal, The (Singapore) Straits Times and Elle.com. She is also a regular contributor to The Atlantic Food Channel.

Born and raised in Singapore, she crossed the ocean at age 18 to go to Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. Unsure of whether she would remain in the U.S. after college, she interned in places as disparate as possible. She hung out with Harley Davidson enthusiasts in Topeka, Kan., interviewed gypsies about their burial rituals in Portland, Ore., covered July 4 in Washington, D.C., and chronicled the life and times of the Boomerang Pleasure Club, a group of Italian-American men that were getting together to cook, play cards and gab about women for decades in their storefront "clubhouse" in Chicago.

An active member of the Asian American Journalists Association, she served on its national board for seven years, ending in 2010.

Praise for A Tiger In The Kitchen:

"Written in the tradition of two classic but different memoirs, Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior (1976) and Julie Powell's Julie & Julia (2005), the book is a recipe in itself—a dash of conjuring the ancient stories of one's past, a sprinkling of culinary narrative. The result is a literary treat. . . . A delightful take on the relationship between food, family and tradition."—Kirkus Reviews

"Tan’s beloved pineapple tart, like Proust’s crumbs of tea-soaked madeleine, evokes a history and a family life that has all but disappeared..."—ArtsCriticATL.com

"A wonderful culinary memoir, a taste-history of food, tradition, and family secrets. Readers “taste” Cheryl Tan’s heritage through her intimate chronicle of Singapore flavors and smells. In this mouth-watering book, Tan makes her way through New York’s Singaporean restaurants and heads home to learn the “how to’s” of fried crab, peppery pork rib broth, and Hainanese Chicken Rice – delicious!"—Epicurious Travelers